Ignite [Book Three In The "Fire And Lightning" Series]

Chapter Ten- Finding

May 1, 2017. 21:16
Boston
~~Emma~~

"You're still not done with your song?" Karolina asked me in disbelief. She shook her head and strummed her guitar, feet resting on the kitchen table.

"That's easy for you to say, you've written tons of songs!" I reminded her. I rubbed my tired eyes. "I have a melody stuck in my head, I've written it out, and I think it sounds good, but I'm still confused with what to say. Should it be sad or happy?"

Karolina raised her eyebrow at me. "Well, which tone do you like better?"

"I'm not sure," I said, tossing aside a pencil with the lead tip snapped off. "I want to write about my life, but some of it's happy, some of it's sad."

Karolina wasn't even listening to me, she was studying the sheet music where I'd written out the melody.

"You know, I could create some harmonies for this and play them on my guitar for you, if you'd like."

"Sure, thanks." I said. Kel wouldn't mind, would he? He'd never said I couldn't have a little bit of help, did he?

Justice walked in a circle on my lap, attempting to help "inspire" me. I scratchedthe top of his head, and he finally settled down. After just a minute, he jumped down and ran over to his food bowl in the corner.

I looked out the apartment window out over the city of Boston. I love looking at cities at sunset. Boston, Star City, Metropolis, even Gotham--They're always so beautiful, and the colors reminded me of Willow.

I wrote her name in my notebook, along with all sorts of other names. Richard, Bruce, Shayera, Mara, Tim, Kaldur, almost the entire team.

"Hey, Em, you okay?" Karolina asked, pausing in plucking at her guitar strings.

"Yeah, just tired. and frustrated." I rubbed my face to wake myself up again. "I have less than a month to finish this stupid thing."

"Hey, girl, just chill." Karolina counseled me.

I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair.

"I'm going out, be back later. Don't wait up."

-------

I drove to the nearest zeta-tube, heading home to Gotham.

The chair in front of the computer spun around as the golden light of the zeta-beams faded away. "Emma? We weren't expecting you to come back until the thirtieth!" Bruce sprinted towards me with his cowl hanging down his back and his cape flying out behind him, the only one in the Batcave. Either Mara and Tim were out on patrol on their own (unlikely), on a team mission (again, unlikely, or I would know), or Bruce had sent them to be early (most likely).

"Where is she?" I asked. Bruce stopped in his tracks.

"Where's who, Emma?" He asked slowly.

"The tooth fairy." I snapped, glaring at him. He didn't look amused.

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "Bruce, I'm only going to ask this once, and you better answer me honestly. Where. Is. Willow?"

Bruce stood in front of me, unmoving, as I stared at him, a mix of glaring and begging on my face. Confliction flickered across his face as he looked to the pool in the corner.

"I didn't hide it to hurt you." He said quietly. His tone was gruff, commanding, with the slightest hint of sympathy. But only the slightest. He was no longer Bruce Wayne, my father, he was Batman, key member of the Justice League and protector of Gotham and the children he cared for so much.